Collections
General Subjects
Photograph CollectionA large collection of publicity photographs compiled by the AAAMC, primarily of singers, musicians, and musical groups from the 1970s to 1990s.
Prelude to Swing Plus 50 (SC 2)
A collection documenting the 1986 Indiana University performance of Prelude
to Swing Plus 50, an updated revival and 50th anniversary celebration of
the 1939 musical revue Prelude to Swing, produced by Winona Fletcher.
Included are posters, programs, production notes, publicity, videos, photographs,
slides, and other related materials.
An online finding aid for Fletcher's collection is available at: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/aaamc/VAC0397
Portia K. Maultsby Papers (SC 18)
Personal papers including reports, programs, and correspondence
pertaining to various conferences, exhibitions, and radio/TV projects for which
Maultsby served as consultant or participant. Included are music research and
production files from the eight-part black history documentary Eyes
on the Prize II (1990), produced by Blackside, Inc., with music selected
and edited by Portia K. Maultsby and Lillian Dunlap. Also included are programs
and videos documenting the Smithsonian Institution Program in Black American
Culture, with a focus on classical, gospel, and rhythm & blues music.
An online finding aid for Maultsby's music industry interviews is available at: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/aaamc/VAB9025
Mark del Costello Collection (SC 21)
Music promoter Mark del Costello has assembled archival footage
of black performers, as well as souvenir programs, posters, and photographs related
to shows he has produced.
Jodie Hearon Collection (SC 26)
Photographs documenting rural life in the Mississippi Delta from the 1950s to
the 1970s.
Donna Lawrence Collection (SC 60)
Materials documenting audiovisual exhibits produced by Donna Lawrence Productions.
Included is the video documentary Music as Metaphor (1988), produced
to accompany the exhibit, "From Victory to Freedom: Afro-American Life
1945-1965" (National Afro-American Museum & Culture Center, Wilberforce,
Ohio).
Luvenia A. George Collection (SC 115)
Personal papers of ethnomusicologist and music educator Luvenia
George, the majority documenting her work with the Smithsonian Institution's
Duke Ellington Collection, as well as planning and program documentation
for other SI conferences and productions. Also included are materials
related to her gospel music research and a large collection of gospel
music songbooks.
An online finding aid for the Luvenia A. George Collection is available at: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/aaamc/VAC1952
Popular Music
Stan Lewis CollectionA selection of 45 rpm discs from the Jewel, Ronn, Paula, and Susie Q record labels.
DMC – USA (SC 10)
Videotapes covering the DMC Disc Jockey mixing competitions and instructional
videos on mixing tips and tricks from world-renowned hip hop club DJs.
Johnny Griffith Collection (SC 25)
More than 300 record albums from the late 1950s through the early 1980s
by various blues, gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues, rock, funk, and disco
artists; a video taped performance of Johnny Griffith and jazz guitarist
Kenny Burrell; personal recordings and a musical score by Griffith;
and a taped interview with Griffith and an interview transcript.
Miles White Collection (SC 27)
A collection of commercial compact discs, audio cassettes, videotapes,
LPs, and books on rap music and hip hop culture. Also included is a
copy of White's MA thesis, “The High Fidelity Turntable System and the
Creation of Hip Hop Music” (Univ. of Washington, 1996), supplemented
by video footage of DJs demonstrating turntable techniques.
Michael Lydon Collection (SC 31)
Nearly 100 recorded interviews with Ray Charles
and his family, friends, and associates conducted by Lydon between
1994-1997 and utilized in his book, Ray Charles: Man and Music (Routledge,
2004).
An online finding aid for the Lydon collection is available at: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/aaamc/VAB9026
Tom Reed Collection (SC 33)
Books and videos documenting black music in Los Angeles.
Harry Allen Collection (SC 34)
Articles, magazines, radio programs, and interviews on hip hop music
and culture by journalist and “media assassin” Harry Allen.
Lee Bailey Collection (SC 38)
Audiocassette copies of over 500 one-hour weekly radio news programs
(Radioscope and Hip
Hop Countdown) on black popular and rap music from the 1980s and 1990s
produced by Lee Bailey Productions. Artists include Curtis Mayfield, Teddy
Riley, Berry Gordy, Patti LaBelle, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Quincy
Jones, Montell Jordan, En Vogue, TLC, Queen Latifah, Arrested Development,
De La Soul, Public Enemy, D' Angelo, Hammer, D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh
Prince, Ice-T., Heavy D., Tupac Shakur, Snoop Doggy Dog, Too Short, M.
C. Lyte, Yo Yo, Dr. Dre, and L.L. Cool J.
Charles Connor Collection (SC 41)
Connor, known as “Little Richard's original drummer,” has
donated materials documenting the period he spent on the road with Little
Richard, Sam Cooke, Dee Clark, Larry Williams, Chuck Willis, and others.
Included are more recent articles, interviews, and audio recordings of
Connor and an unpublished book manuscript.
Michael McAlpin Collection (SC 49)
Production materials from the documentary Record Row: The Cradle
of Rhythm and Blues, produced by McAlpin for WTTW/Chicago (1996). Record
Row tells the story of the birth and emergence of Chicago’s
R&B and soul music industry along a 12-block stretch of South Michigan
Avenue that was home to a score of independent recording companies, most
notably Chess Records. Included are scripts and transcripts of interviews
with many prominent scholars, musicians, and industry professionals,
including Ewart Abner, Al Bell, Jerry Butler, Lucky Cordell, Phil Chess,
Marshall Chess, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, and Curtis Mayfield, among others.
An online finding aid for the Michael McAlpin Collection is available at: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/aaamc/VAC2753
Charles Sykes Collection (SC 58)
Research on the Motown Record Corp., including photographs; Motown-related videos
and television programs; and audio and video interviews with vocalists, instrumentalists,
arrangers, songwriters, producers, technical staff, management, and consumers.
Interviews include Thomas "Beans" Bowles (saxophonist and first road
manager of the Motor Town Revue), Maxwell Powell (image specialist at Motown's
Division of Artist Development), Bobby Rogers and Ronald White (vocalists with
the Miracles), Sylvia Moy (songwriter), and Michael McLean (audio technician).
Something in the Water: The Sweet Flavor of Dayton Funk
(SC 65)
A collection consisting primarily of interviews conducted in 1997 and 1998 for
the exhibit “Something
in the Water: The Sweet Flavor of Dayton Funk,” a collaborative project
between the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce,
Ohio, and the AAAMC. Interviewees include parents, teachers, record store
owners, disc jockeys, politicians, historians, sociologists, and various band
members from Zapp, Dayton, Sun, Slave, the Dazz Band, and the Ohio Players.
An online finding aid for Something in the Water: The Sweet Flavor of Dayton Funk Collection is available at: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/aaamc/VAC1958
Mr. R&B Records (SC 66)
The complete catalog of Mr. R&B Records, a reissue label based in Sweden,
including nearly 200 LPs of blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, and gospel music
from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Special Edition (SC 70)
Over 200 radio programs on black popular music from the 1970s and 1980s
produced by Karen Shearer Productions for Westwood One. The programs
include narration, interviews and recordings by artists such as the
O'Jays, Tina Turner, Bobby Bland, Curtis Mayfield, Natalie Cole, B.
B. King, Little Richard, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight
and the Pips, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & the Gang,
War, Patti LaBelle, the Staple Singers, the Spinners, Isaac Hayes, Diana Ross,
the Jacksons, Peabo Bryson, the Commodores, Ashford & Simpson, Larry Graham,
Isley Brothers, Barry White, George Benson, Aretha Franklin, the Pointer Sisters,
Patrice Rushen, the Dells, Al Green, the Chi-Lites, Parliament-Funkadelic, Deniece
Williams, the Ohio Players, Jerry Butler, Johnnie Taylor, the Four Tops, Teddy
Pendergrass, Herbie Hancock, Booker T. and the MGs, Quincy Jones, the Temptations,
Donna Summer, Zapp, and Luther Vandross. Transcriptions are available for some
interviews and programs. This collection is jointly held with the Archives of
Traditional Music at Indiana University.
Rhythm & Blues Foundation Collection (SC 90)
Materials compiled during the production of the Rhythm & Blues
Foundation's Let the Good Times Roll, a series of hour-long radio programs
hosted by Jerry "The Iceman" Butler and distributed by National Public
Radio. Included are photographs, transcripts of interviews with various musicians
featured on the shows, publicity materials, and a complete set of the radio programs
on compact disc.
Three Tons of Joy with Johnny Otis.
Johnny Otis and Bill Griffith Collection (SC 100)
Original video masters for thirteen Johnny Otis Show television
programs, taped in a Los Angeles studio by Griffith between 1974-1975 and featuring
such guest artists as Delmar “Mighty Mouth” Evans, Marie Adams & the
Three Tons of Joy, Joe Turner, Shuggie Otis, Pee Wee Crayton, and
Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson.
Also included are five hours of unedited footage from Johnny Otis’s
Oldies But Goodies musical revue, a live show in L.A. that featured popular
artists of the rock & roll era lip-synching to their hit recordings. Taped
by Griffith from 1975-1977, over 100 songs are performed by artists such as Emma
James, Richard Berry, the Penguins, the Coasters, Shirley & Lee, Ted Taylor,
Bobby Day, and the Medallions.
Johnny Otis Collection (SC 106)
Over 800 radio programs of black popular music (live and prerecorded),
hosted by Johnny Otis, and featuring live interviews with blues and
rhythm & blues
artists from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Artists interviewed include Little
Esther Phillips, Al Frazier, Mary Wells, Zola Taylor, the Coasters, Horace Silver,
the Robins, Etta James, Big Jay McNeely, Bobby Day, Bumps Blackwell, Pee Wee
Crayton, Jimmy McCracklin, and Joe Liggins. The radio programs are jointly held
with the Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University. Also included are
photographs, memorabilia, books, and compact discs.
Phyl Garland Collection (SC 111)
Personal papers of the noted journalist Phyl Garland. Includes original
typescripts of her columns for Ebony and record reviews for Stereo Review;
related research materials; 41 audiocassette recordings of interviews with various
musicians, artists, and filmmakers; and over 900 publicity photographs, bios,
and press releases issued by record companies and representing a wide range of
African American musicians and genres.
An online finding aid for the Phyl Garland Collection is available at: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/aaamc/VAC2130
Soul and Funk: the Naptown Sound (SC 113)
Interviews conducted for the Indiana Historical Society Exhibit, “Soul
and Funk: the Naptown Sound” (2005), a collaborative project between the
AAAMC and the IHS. Features interviews with various Indianapolis musicians such
as Alan Bacon, James Bell, Clint Jones, Lester Johnson, Paul Middlebrook, Dick
Pierson, Matthew Watson, and Rodney Stepp, as well as exhibit photographs, audio
and video documentation, and production materials.
Karen Shearer Collection (SC 129)
Materials used in the creation of the syndicated radio shows Special Edition and Rock
Chronicles, produced by Karen Shearer Productions for Westwood One. In addition
to interview and program transcripts, there are hundreds of record company publicity
photographs and press releases.
An online finding aid for the Karen Shearer Collection is available at: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/aaamc/VAB9514
Susan Oehler Collection (SC 131)
Collection of recorded performances and interviews with blues
musicians conducted from 1995-1998 in Bloomington, Indianapolis, and
Chicago that were utilized in Oehler's dissertation, “Aesthetics and Meaning in Professional
Blues Performances: An Ethnographic Examination of an African American Music
in intercultural Context” (Indiana University, 2001). Also included are
several tapes recorded in Ghana in 1995 that document Ghanaian performing arts.
Nelson George Collection (SC 133)
Materials collected and compiled by Nelson George during the course
of research for his book, Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise and Fall of The
Motown Sound (St. Martin's Press, 1985). Included are interviews (transcripts
and/or audiocassettes), photographs, newspaper clippings, magazines, manuscripts,
legal documents, correspondence, and subject files related to Motown Record Corp.
and various artists.
Adelaide Hall Collection (SC 134)
Photographs and articles documenting the career of jazz vocalist
and Broadway star Adelaide Hall.
Religious Music
Wade in the Water Series (1993)A 26-part series on gospel music conceived and hosted by Bernice Johnson Reagon and produced by National Public Radio. The series is accompanied by a curriculum guide.
Mellonee Burnim Collection (SC 7)
Over 100 hours of audio and video field recordings documenting worship
services, funerals, and concerts of gospel music in the U.S., Cuba,
Malawi, and Liberia.
Vy Higginsen Collection (SC 28)
Recordings, complete script, book, photographs, poster, and promotional
materials for the gospel musicals Mama, I Want to Sing; Mama,
I Want to Sing II; and Born to Sing! Mama 3, written and
produced by Vy Higginsen and Ken Wydro.
Bobby Jones Collection (SC 60)
Personal memorabilia and awards documenting the career of
gospel music legend Dr. Bobby Jones.
Debbie May Collection (SC 62)
Contemporary gospel music videos donated by gospel music producer
and manager Debbie May.
Arizona Dranes Papers (SC 135)
A unique collection of recording contracts and correspondence between
Arizona Dranes and the Consolidated Music Publishing House (owner of the Chicago
OKeh Records franchise). Dranes recorded a series of groundbreaking gospel
records in Chicago between 1926-1928 for the OKeh label. Her fees, activities,
and relationship with the record label over a three year period are documented
in these papers.
Classical Music
The Undine Smith Moore/Black Composers Collection
Named after the highly regarded composer and educator, the original focus of
the Undine Smith Moore Collection was on the collection and preservation of
original music manuscripts by black composers. In recent years the collection
has expanded to include printed scores, recordings, interviews, and photographs.
Composers represented in the collection include Michael Abels, Lettie Alston,
T.J. Anderson, Regina Harris Baiocchi, David Baker, William Banfield, Charles
Coleman, William Dawson, Bethenia Ferrell, Donal Fox, Carl Maultsby, Portia
Maultsby, Lena McLin, Dorothy Rudd Moore, Kermit Moore, Undine Smith Moore,
Gary Powell Nash, Stephen Newby, Daniel Roumain, Kevin Scott, Hale Smith, William
Henry Smith, Howard Swanson, Frederick Tillis, Gregory Walker, Julius Williams,
and Michael Woods.
Extensions of the Tradition Collection
Extensions of the Tradition is an annual event featuring a concert
of music by black composers with related exhibits and programs, co-sponsored
by Indiana University's African American Arts Institute, the AAAMC, and
the Jacobs School of Music. The event is documented through program booklets,
flyers, photographs, and video and audio recordings.
Black Radio
Note: Thumbnails of the photographs in the Ed Castleberry, George Nelson, Jack "The Rapper", Kathy Lewis, Rick Roberts, Skipper Lee Frazier, and Travis Gardner Collections are available as part of the AAAMC Black Radio Collection located at:
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/images/splash.htm?scope=photos/VAC2427.
To view images from a specific collection, click "Sub Collection" and then the collection name on the right hand "Browse Black Radio" menu.
William Barlow Collection (SC 6)
Personal papers related primarily to Black radio, including press clippings,
published and unpublished articles, and other research materials used by Barlow
for his monograph Voice Over: The Making of Black Radio (Temple University
Press, 1999). Also included are Barlow’s interviews with various
blues artists and some recorded performances, collected during the course of
research for his book “Looking Up at Down”: The Emergence of
Blues Culture (Temple University Press, 1989).
Jack Gibson in Louisville. (Courtesy Jack Gibson Collection)
Jack "The Rapper" Gibson Collection (SC 14)
A collection documenting the career of Black radio pioneer "Jockey Jack" Gibson.
Includes a complete set of Mello Yello, the oldest black trade
magazine targeted to Black radio and the music industry, published by Gibson
from 1976-1996. Also included are original air-check tapes, an unreleased video
documentary about Gibson, audio and video interviews with Jack Gibson and
various colleagues, souvenir programs from "The Family Affair" (the
oldest black radio and black music convention hosted by Jack Gibson), and photographs
of radio personalities and rhythm & blues artists.
Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was (SC 39)
Production materials documenting the 13-part series on the role of
radio in transforming the African American community in the twentieth
century, produced in 1996 by Jacquie Webb for Smithsonian Productions,
with assistance from the AAAMC. The collection contains over 400 hours
of interviews and historical air-check tapes, in addition to photographs,
articles, research files, and transcripts. The audio interviews feature
conversations with over 150 well-known disc jockeys, radio professionals,
record company executives, journalists, and scholars such as Ewart Abner,
Peggy Mitchell Beckwith, Dorothy Brunson, James Brown, Ed Castleberry, Lucky
Cordell, Frankie Crocker, Lavada “Hepcat” Durst, Nelson George,
Jack Gibson, "Jocko" Henderson, Vy Higginsen, Maurice "Hot Rod" Hulbert, “Doctor” Mable
John, E. Rodney Jones, Tom Joyner, Herb Kent, Hattie Leeper, Sid McCoy,
Sidney Miller, Eddie O'Jay, Rev. Del Shields, Donnie Simpson, Novella “Dizzy
Lizzy” Smith, Richard Stamz, Shelley Stewart, Percy Sutton, Martha Jean "The
Queen" Steinberg, Rufus Thomas, Ike Turner, and Roy Wood.
An online finding aid for the Black Radio collection is available at: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/aaamc/VAC0316
Kathy Lewis Collection (SC 86)
Photographs documenting radio station WERD in Atlanta, including the
interior and exterior of the studio as well as photographic images of several
WERD publications and advertisements.
Ed Castleberry (SC 87)
A collection, primarily of photographs, documenting the career of Ed
Castleberry. Includes publicity shots of disc jockeys, radio stations,
and events sponsored by black radio stations, including WKVO Columbus (OH),
WMBM Miami, and stations in Birmingham, Alabama.
Rick Roberts (SC 88)
Photographs documenting the career of Houston deejay Rick Roberts,
including publicity shots of disc jockeys, musicians, and events sponsored
by black radio stations, primarily KYOK in Houston.
George Nelson (SC 89)
Photographs documenting the career of Houston deejay George Nelson,
including publicity shots of disc jockeys, musicians, and events sponsored
by KYOK in Houston.
Skipper Lee Frazier Collection (SC 95)
Photographs documenting the career of well-known Houston deejay
Skipper Lee Frazier, copied from his personal collection.
Travis Gardner (SC 96)
Photographs copied from the personal
collection of Travis Gardner, documenting events
and personnel at Houston radio station KCOH from
1960-1970. Accompanied by an interview transcript
with Gardner’s
descriptions of each photograph.
